The Sakurazaki Chronicles: Tsubasa
by Hohoemi yo Towa ni
Summary: Sakurazaki Setsuna is an orphan that holds many secrets. On her way to a kendo match in another city, she falls asleep, waking up in a different world- the Naruto world! SasukexOC, SasukeOC, SasuxOC, SasuOC, SasxOC, SasOC, Please R&R!
1. Preface

The Sakurazaki Chronicles—Tsubasa

By Emi

MC: Setsuna, Sasuke, mainly Konohagakure ninja

MS: Feudal Japan; the pre-Shippuuden period of Naruto

MT: Romance, Adventure, Angst, Friendship, Fantasy, Death

Rating: 13-18 year olds (Teen-Mature)

Disclaimer: The author does not own Naruto in any way, shape or form. However, she does own her OCs, including a small amount of their jutsus. The author also does not own the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld, Mahou Sensei Negima! by Akamatsu Ken, Chobits by CLAMP, Tsubasa by CLAMP, xxxHolic by CLAMP, Love Hina by Akamatsu Ken, the manga edition of Romeo and Juliet by Yali Lin (her wonderful art instructor and the woman who autographed it for me.), the .hack// series by various authors, and other manga or literature references used in the making of this fanfiction. All rights belong to their respectful author(s) or company.

A/N: Hello! Please take good care of this story, and review!!!

Book One: Sora

Preface

I parried his attack, pulling out my second katana. Pushing the enemy backwards, I matched his speed, hoping to Kami that my hand didn't slip up, because if it did, then I was done for. I raised my first katana up, ready to strike, but he pushed his blade against mine.

However, to my advantage, I was a master of the twin katana, whereas he only wielded one. Using my left hand, although not as strong as my right, was perfectly fine on its own, I pressed it against his chest. Shouts that were calling my name in the background roared as the referee stepped up to grab my arm. Raising them myself, I bowed to the cheering crowd in victory.

Noticing my opponent was still uncomfortably trapped between his and my two swords, I reached out my hand for him to grab. Lifting him up, I accepted my 20th medal in a row with my other hand. I smiled to myself. Tomorrow, I would be headed for Kyoto. I would be free from all the mess in the orphanage in Tokyo. I spun around, giddily. Free!

.::x::.x::x::.

An hour later, I was on the E Train back to Tokyo Boarding School. It was an elite institute of learning, but I wasn't interested in learning that much. Swordplay was my hobby, and I planned to do it all the time once I got into another city.

The tournaments were the next day, I noticed. I would have to be careful. The elite swordfighters would be coming from all over Japan, and I would have to be prepared. But, nonetheless, I rid the stress away, taking out from my battered-up second-hand backpack, a manga, which I noticed immediately to be Naruto Shippuuden Book 1.

And then I started to read...

.::x::.x::x::.


	2. Arrival

The Sakurazaki Chronicles—Tsubasa

By Emi

MC: Setsuna, Sasuke, mainly Konohagakure ninja

MS: Feudal Japan; the pre-Shippuuden period of Naruto

MT: Romance, Adventure, Angst, Friendship, Fantasy, Death

Rating: 13-18 year olds (Teen-Mature)

Disclaimer: The author does not own Naruto in any way, shape or form. However, she does own her OCs, including a small amount of their jutsus. The author also does not own the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld, Mahou Sensei Negima! by Akamatsu Ken, Chobits by CLAMP, Tsubasa by CLAMP, xxxHolic by CLAMP, Love Hina by Akamatsu Ken, the manga edition of Romeo and Juliet by Yali Lin (her wonderful art instructor and the woman who autographed it for me.), the .hack// series by various authors, and other manga or literature references used in the making of this fanfiction. All rights belong to their respectful author(s) or company.

A/N: Please review! Thanks for the support!

Book One: Sora

Chapter 1

.::x::.x::x::.

I woke up to birds chirping and sunlight coming out of the... curtain?! I looked around me, noticing me to be nowhere I had imagined; even my basic fighting attire had been replaced with traditional kimonos. Wait... kimonos? I looked down at the fabric that was hanging over my hands. I frowned. The color combination was of royal attire... this material was for a princess. I glanced at the carriage I was in. Paper lanterns hand from the corners, and the door was made of a thin sheet of paper. Yellow silk curtains shielded my view from the outside.

Suddenly, the carriage stopped. Just then, the paper door slid open to reveal a man of about 26 with silver hair that defied gravity... "Hatake Kakashi-sempai!" I gasped, realizing who he was. I made out a smile coming from his mask.

"So the princess recognizes me? I'm honored." he stretched out his hand for me to take. I stared at it, apprehensive. Where was I? Why was there a Naruto character there in front of me, and why did he call me 'princess?' Shaking my thoughts away from my head, I hesitantly reached out to grab his hand. Picking up the hem of the long kimono, I stepped out into the sun.

As I looked at my surroundings, I realized that I was in Feudal Era of Japan. There were ninja with headbands of the Leaf Village all around the place-- in restaurants, in the park, even loitering around the streets. But that still didn't explain why Kakashi-san had called me princess, or why I was here in the first place!

As Kakashi-san began walking towards a big building marked 'ho,' or fire, I decided to follow him, careful not to trip over my kimono. I walked over to Kakashi-sempai, looking up at him. "Where are we going?" I asked him. He looked down at me.

"Shouldn't you know?" He asked questioningly. "We're going to Hokage-sama's office, since you pleaded so HARD to your father that you wanted to become a ninja. I blinked at this a few times, and then looked away. Is that what I did? Okaaaay, if you say so. I tromped up the building to the third floor, which had a door with a plaque saying 'Hokage' on it. Presumably, this was the Hokage-sama's office.

Knocking three times, I let my hands drop, turning to Kakashi-sempai. "Kakashi-san, how will I pass the Academy test?" I decided to play the part. Kakashi-sempai chuckled.

"I knew you would ask me that, Setsuna-hime," He smiled invisibly. "So I'm going to do some last minute teaching." He clasped his hands together to from the hand sign of 'tora,' the tiger. "You do the hand sign, and then concentrate your chakra into your hands evenly. Think about your exact features, then say 'Kage Bushin no Jutsu.' It helps if you shout it. Got that?" I nodded.

A 'come in' sounded from inside the room. Kakashi-san opened the door for me, and I stepped in. Seeing Sandaime Hokage-sama, I bowed. "Konnichiwa, Hokage-sama." He chuckled at my formality.

"No need, Setsuna-hime," He motioned for me to sit down. I followed his orders, and sat in one of the chairs in front of his desk. "So, I hear you came to Konohagakure no sato to become a kunoichi?" When I nodded, he continued, "Okay. Since today was graduation day, you will have to make three clones of yourself here. I suppose Kakashi-kun already taught you what to do outside my door?" I nodded again.

"Good." He motioned for me to stand at a clear spot in the corner of the room. I did so. "Anytime you're ready, Setsuna-hime." Standing there, I clasped my hands together in the 'tora' formation, like the Naruto characters did when performing a jutsu. Like I did with my swordplay, I channeled my inner strength-- called chakra her in Feudal Japan-- to my fingertips. I proceeded with the next step-- to concentrate on myself. I thought of my face, and my hair, which was USUALLY tied up into a sideways ponytail. I thought of my new traditional clothes, and shoes, then shouted the last step out loud-- "KAGE BUSHIN NO JUSTSU!!" Wind whipped around me, and then smoke formed.

Slowly, it cleared, and I looked around me. What I saw shocked me. Three perfect copies of myself stood next to me, looking at me. I laughed, overjoyed. Who knew that I could multiply myself? If I had known earlier, I would have been at home sleeping while my clones when to class for me. "Hokage-sama!" I exclaimed, running over to them. My clones followed suit. "I did it!" My voice rang clearly throughout all three voices.

Hokage-sama and Kakashi-sempai were looking at me, bewildered. Apparently, they didn't believe that I had done it on my first go. Frankly, I didn't either, but they didn't need to know that, did they? "Great job, Sakurazaki-hime! You're now an official genin of the Leaf Village!" He held out a piece of black fabric. I took it, the metal forehead protector showing the sign of the Leaf village. Grinning, Kakashi-sempai helped tie it around my forehead.

"Arigatou, Kakashi-sempai," I thanked him.

"Setsuna-hime, go downstairs to the Closet. There are a bunch of new shinobi attire in the there. You cannot go outside looking like that, or you'll attract attention. Besides, most of Konohagakure knows that a princess is joining us today." Nodding, I thanked the Hokage-sama once more before heading to the closet he had mentioned.

Thankfully, I found more tomboyish demeanor in there. Personally, the kimono didn't suit my personality, no matter how nice it looked. I grabbed a traditional boy's samurai outfit (hey, maybe I can be called -dono instead.) and changed into it. Then, I took off the royal circular hat I was wearing, and placed it in the corner somewhere. Slowly, I took off the beads that were strung through my hair, and tied my hair with a simple side-ponytail. Looking at the mirror that was placed on a wall conveniently, I thought, 'Perfect!' Then I frowned. I wouldn't be physically strong with only one jutsu and no swords. I looked around, thankfully being able to see another door, which led to a room full of shinobi weapons.

I gaped at all of the kunai and huge shuriken that were carefully organized onto shelves along the walls. I saw something that immediately caught my eye. A set of twin katanas! I ran over to them, careful not to trip over any small weapon-summoning scrolls that were littering the floor. Picking them up, I examined them. Weighing them in my hands, I found that they were even better than the ones I had purchased previously in Tokyo. Taking the first one out of its sheath, I turned it over to its side, the silver color glinting in the light that was covering the room. I tested it out on one of the practice leather dummies that were on one wall. I slashed it, and, well, the head of it fell off. Perfect, it cut like butter. Satisfied, I carefully sheathed them, putting them in the sash.

I went back out, back to Hokage-sama's office. Kakashi-sempai and Hokage-sama were still there, and their eyebrows rose when they saw my new demeanor. "Setsuna-hime, you look like a... boy!" Kakashi-sempai began. Feeling a little back to myself, the self I was back in modern-day Japan, I felt offended by the statement. Drawing my katana, I was at Kakashi-sempai's neck in a split second. I heard Hokage-sama gasp slightly behind us.

"Don't underestimate a girl's skills, Kakashi-sempai," I tested him. I decided to unleash a little of my knowledge of the Naruto-verse. "After all, don't you remember how strong Rin-sempai was? And how strong Tsunade-sama still is?"

"You're fast," He commented. I grinned, and then frowned. If I was a princess in this world, then how was I supposed to explain my swordplay? As if Kakashi-sempai had read my thoughts, he continued on, "But how did you learn that swordplay?"

Nervously, I quickly racked my thoughts for more lies. "Um... ano, I... took one of my guard's katanas and practiced when... Father wasn't looking?" I posed this as a question. Hokage-sama looked disbelieving at me, but waving it off, he spoke.

"Ano... you still need somewhere to live, don't you?" He asked me. I nodded again. "Hmmm..." Hokage-sama pondered this.

"Then she can stay with..." He broke off. "Well, she'll be on your team, of course. So she can stay with either you or Sasuke-kun." I was surprised at this statement. Why couldn't I stay with Naruto? Or be with myself? Then I remembered that I was supposedly a 'princess.' Oh god...

"She can't stay with me," Kakashi-sempai started. "I tend to be extremely--"

"Tardy and perverted?" I finished for him. He twitched and faced me.

"How did you--"

"I uh... Father told me! He knows everyone, you know..." I smiled in a fake way. Kami, help me. I was running out of believable lies! He stared unbelieving at me. Apparently, he waved it off, because he continued to talk.

.::x::.x::x::.

"So, you'll go with Uchiha Sasuke-kun," He stated. I bubbled inside. I wasn't particularly a big fan of Uchiha Sasuke-san. What if he thought I was too loud? Too quiet? Boring? Fan-girlish? I winced at the thought of the last one.

"But Hokage-sama," I protested. "if I really have to live with someone, why can't I be with Sakura-chan or Naruto-kun? Why Sasuke-san?" They raised their eyebrows.

"Sakurazaki-hime, we never told you their names!" They exclaimed, surprised. 'Oops,' I thought. 'I'm a dipshit to forget all of these things.' Kakashi-sempai continued to talk. "Naruto-kun, although his father was bountiful in money, Naruto-kun has not yet inherited it. And Sakura-chan simply has a whole family to deal with. Sasuke-kun just has more space."

"Besides," Hokage-sama added. "Sasuke-san already knows about this. In fact, he's eavesdropping on the door! Come in, Sasuke-kun!"

The door opened slowly, and Sasuke-san, the all-mighty, emo-king of the world, walked in smirking like he usually did. Standing in front of the Hokage-sama and taking no notice of me, he bowed. "Hokage-sama," He greeted, sounding more amiable than ever. Note the sarcasm.

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun," Hokage-sama acknowledged. He motioned for me to come over to him. I put my katana back into its sheath and casually walked over to him, 'accidentally' bumping shoulders with Sasuke-san on the way there. He glared at me. I smiled in a fake way and 'sweetly' at him. "This is Sakurazaki Setsuna-hime, princess of the Fire Country. As we discussed earlier, she is to be living with you. Also, a little advice," Hokage-sama joked with a twinkle in his old eyes. "She has a sharper tongue than of a hebi and better reflexes than that of a tora and ryuu put together." I nudged Hokage-sama in the arm playfully. He smiled at me, his eyes crinkling at the corners slightly.

"Hn." was all Sasuke-san said. If I remembered carefully, that was Sasuke-san's catch phrase. I groaned inwardly. I would be hearing that a lot.

"Good, now, everyone out," The Hokage-sama ordered. "I have a meeting with the medical corps about smallpox vaccinations in half an hour." We obeyed, bowing once more before leaving. As Sasuke-san and I stood outside, I waved goodbye to Kakashi-sensei before going our separate ways.

I turned to Sasuke-san, and stuck my hand out. Maybe we could be friends... yeah right. "Ohayou, gozaimasu! My name is Sakurazaki, but I'd prefer if you'd call me by my first name, Setsuna." Ignoring me, and my hand, Sasuke-san passed me, forcing me to chase him through the town's marketplace, where Naruto-kun was probably eating ramen with Iruka-sensei to celebrate.

"Aren't you going to introduce yourself?" I had finally caught up to him. "It's rude to ignore people after they've introduced themselves." Sasuke caved in. I grinned.

"Uchiha. Uchiha Sasuke. Call me whatever you like, just as long as it's not 'kun.'" I smiled at my accomplishment. Who knew that a girl of a different dimension would be able to make Uchiha Sasuke-san talk?

Finally, we reached an apartment door, which read 'Uchiha' on a plaque. I blinked at that and stared at the hallways as Sasuke-san unlocked the door. I heard an abrupt click as the door swung open. I turned around and went in, Sasuke-san entering after and closing the door behind him. "Thank you, Arigatou Gozaimasu." I told him, but he either didn't hear me, or had ignored my comment.


	3. New

The Sakurazaki Chronicles—Tsubasa

By Emi

MC: Setsuna, Sasuke, mainly Konohagakure ninja

MS: Feudal Japan; the pre-Shippuuden period of Naruto

MT: Romance, Adventure, Angst, Friendship, Fantasy, Death

Rating: 13-18 year olds (Teen-Mature)

Disclaimer: The author does not own Naruto in any way, shape or form. However, she does own her OCs, including a small amount of their jutsus. The author also does not own the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld, Mahou Sensei Negima! by Akamatsu Ken, Chobits by CLAMP, Tsubasa by CLAMP, xxxHolic by CLAMP, Love Hina by Akamatsu Ken, the manga edition of Romeo and Juliet by Yali Lin (her wonderful art instructor and the woman who autographed it for me.), the .hack// series by various authors, and other manga or literature references used in the making of this fanfiction. All rights belong to their respectful author(s) or company.

A/N: Review, please! Thanks!

Book One: Sora

Chapter 2

.::x::.x::x::.

I looked around at his 'humble abode.' It was extremely plain; white, consisting of another white couch and a table with a teapot set on it. There was a simple lamp in the corner of the room. On inspection, I realized that the kitchen was white, also, and didn't have much except a small table, a refrigerator, and a sink with other kitchen appliances.

I went back to the living room, and carefully took my katanas out of the belt I was holding them with and laid them carefully on the couch. I saw Sasuke-san plainly sitting on a chair twiddling with a kunai, but I ignored him, and continued on exploring. The next room proved to be a bathroom-- yet again, white, small, with a sink, a toilet, and a shower. I sighed, frustrated. Sasuke-san was so PLAIN.

There were two last doors-- one of them had to be Sasuke-san's room, so I hoped I could pick the right one. Unfortunately, I seemed to have the worst luck, deciding on the door on the left. As I opened it, I could already see that the room was occupied. My hand lingered on the door, but curiosity drove me on. The closet door was slightly ajar, and the bed was messily made. And, yes, you guessed it, the theme was WHITE. I turned to go out, but something on the dresser caught my eye--no, not the fact that the Naruto-verse had televisions, but the picture.

I edged closer to it, noticing immediately that it was a picture of the Uchiha's-- or, rather, one of the families-- Sasuke-san's. Inconspicuously, I picked up the fragile frame, staring at the people whom Itachi-san had murdered six years ago. Had it been so long that I was a mere child at the orphanage in Tokyo...? I looked at Mikoto-sempai and Fugaku-sempai, staring into their young eyes. My eyes ran over Sasuke-san's smiling form, how he was before his family had been killed. Even Itachi-san was smiling a little bit. Did he already know his family was going to be killed by himself when the picture had been taken?

I felt pity suddenly, for Sasuke-san. In the real world, the world I was no longer a part of, I belonged to a boarding school as an orphan, my father having died and my mother having abandoned me at the age of three, leaving me to fend for myself. I could relate to having your family taken away. But not in this world... I had a family I had never even met...

"What're you doing?" The picture was suddenly snatched out of my fingers before I could sense Sasuke-san's chakra. "You shouldn't snoop into people's business. It's RUDE, remember?" He mocked a comment I had made previously. He placed the picture forcefully face-down on the dresser, and pulled my out of his room by the back of my sash.

"You room is over there," He pointed to the door on the right. I tried smiling at him. It didn't work.

"Gomen nasai, arigatou, Sasuke-san!" He 'hned' again and opened the door, shoved me in, and closed the door behind me. In the darkness of the room, I groped around for the light switch, finally finding it on the far left side of the room, but not before tripping over a plug for the lamp. I flicked it on, taking in the room that was lying before me. It was... to say... a complete clone of Sasuke-san's. Sasuke-san had also oh-so-kindly placed my katanas on the bed-spread (white).

Striding over to the curtains, I opened them, letting the morning sunshine creep through the window blinds. Not caring if it was in fact, morning, I laid on my bed, carefully hanging my twin katanas on the closet door first. And then I did what I do best-- think.

'Where am I?' I thought, laying my head to the right, my arms tucked comfortably underneath my head. I knew that I was in a parallel dimension of some sort, in a children's manga depicting fighting ninjas, but where EXACTLY was I? Was I also back in Tokyo, in some subconscious state of mind? Could I get back?

I didn't really think about getting back to my world, because the only thing I could really look forward to there was swordplay tournaments, and I had something better now that I was in Konoha no sato. I was a kunoichi, for crying out loud! I shook my head to get rid of the zeppelin of thoughts, like one of those Etch and Sketches you find at those antique stores.

Just then, I decided to confront Sasuke-san, in small hopes of him accepting me as a friend, so living with him might be considerably easier to do. Feeling quite a lot happier, I went out and knocked on Sasuke-san's closed door. Nobody answered. After knocking several more times and still receiving no answer that Sasuke-san was indeed still alive (demo, he couldn't be dead; the storyline is still starting!), I turned the knob and slipped inside.

Feeling chakra coming from where Sasuke-san's bed was, I let my chakra guide me to him in the dark. I heard slow, even breaths, and I realized that the Uchiha boy was asleep. My eyes adjusting to the darkness, I sat there, watching his chest rise and fall, his bangs covering his eyes. I had to admit, Sasuke-san wasn't ugly. I could see what fan-girls could see in him, but I thought that they should focus more on PERSONALITY. He shifted a little, his head now angling towards me, his nose only a few mere inches from mine. I moved away a little, and then a strange thought came to me-- what was Sasuke-san doing sleeping at 1:00 PM?

However, I decided not to be rude, and exited the room quietly to the kitchen, to make lunch. Upon opening the refrigerator (yet again, white-- I thought Sasuke-san like blue?), I discovered nothing but ramen, eggs, cold rice, and tomatoes. The only drinks were milk and water. Noticing that many were expired, I sighed, tossing them away to make more room for later groceries.

Left with half a refrigerator full of plain food, I decided to just make ramen, adding a few tomatoes and eggs into it. Four minutes later, the ramen was done; the tomatoes and eggs already mixed into it, and ready to be eaten. I placed both bowls on the table and left them to cool as I went to wake Sasuke-san.

Creeping into Sasuke-san's room again, I noticed that Sasuke-san was still asleep, his bangs still falling over his eyes. he certainly looked different when he was asleep, I would give him that. I smiled half-heartedly, nudging his side a little. He stirred, but didn't move.

"Sasuke-san," I shook his shoulder. "Time for lunch!" he rolled onto his back, and opened one eye tiredly.

"Huh?" He blinked, and then rubbed his eyes. Stretching, he added, "What time is it?" I smiled at him. He sure was SLOW when he woke up.

"1:05, lunchtime!" I exclaimed, pulling the young Uchiha up. Why was I so hyper? Was it because I finally had something to relate to? Someone... I could maybe be FRIENDS with? Hm... I made a mental note to stop asking questions and start answering them. "C'mon, Sasuke-san, I made tomato-egg ramen!" Adjusting his collar and pants, which he seemed to have fallen asleep in, he followed me into his-- I mean OUR kitchen, where the ramen bowls still were.

"Ano..." he muttered, probably not used to having people cook for him. "Thanks, arigatou, I guess..." He sat down, picking up a pair of chopsticks.

I ate fast, since I really hadn't eaten since before my swordplay tournament, when I was still in Tokyo, about a day or two ago. After a few minutes, Sasuke-san was finished, too, and I took his bowl from him and started washing them both.

Sasuke-san watched me from behind for a few moments-- I could feel his eyes on my back as I continued to rinse the second bowl. Then, he stepped up to me, taking a towel from a hook near the sink, he dried off both bowls. I turned the knob of the sink, stopping the flow of water, and turned to him.

"Arigatou for helping, Sasuke-san," I smiled weakly at him. He smirked at me.

"Hn," He replied, turning around, and then stopping. He spun around again. "How do you know all of these things about housework, when you're the princess of the whole Fire Country?"

Good question. I tried to think of more lies I could feed him. "Well..., ano... I wanted to fend for myself for a few days, because I was going to be a kunoichi, and I learned how to make ramen and wash dishes!" I scratched the back of my head convincingly.

Nonetheless, the Uchiha prodigy (okay, one of the only Uchihas left, but still! He's the rookie of the Academy!) shook his head, not believing a word I had uttered. _Shit_. "The truth, Sakurazaki-hime."

"I told you to call me Setsuna!" I shot back. I calmed immediately. "Gomen, Sasuke-san. It's just... I'm not really ready to tell anybody my secret just yet. Soon though, I promise!" I stuck my pinky out childishly (hell-o, I'm only 12!) and waited for him to link with me. He didn't, so I gave him a look, making him sigh deeply. He wrapped his pinky around mine, and I smiled softly up at him.

"Hn," Sasuke-san muttered as we let go. "Hey, Saku--" I gave him another look. "Fine, Setsuna-hime, I don't know about you, but Iruka-sensei told us to be at the Academy now for the sorting of groups. You coming?" I smiled, and nodded, running to my room to find my twin katanas. Putting them safely in my sash, Sasuke opened the door for me, and locked the door behind him.

Since the manga of 'Naruto' didn't really have a route from Sasuke-san's house to the Academy, I had to follow Sasuke-san there, listening to the silence as birds and people talked to each other in the background.

After five minutes of travel, we arrived at the Academy's double doors. We walked in, stopping in front of a door that clearly said 'Umino Iruka' on a plaque. Knowing that Iruka-sensei wouldn't come in until later, after Sasuke-san and Naruto-kun shared that fateful kiss, I sat down at the left of Sasuke-san, him back to brooding and ignoring me as usual. As I sat there, I heard talk of me. Well, sort of talking about me, since I wasn't really a princess.

"I heard that the princess of the Fire Country's here 'cuz she wants to become a ninja!" Rumors whipped around the room.

I quietly eavesdropped on a group of gaggling girls sitting in the row in front of us. "Did you know the princess is OUR age?" One girl whispered.

"Yeah, and she owns a pony!" I snorted at this. I may have er... 'owned a pony' but nonetheless, it sounded ridiculously funny.

"Hey, do you think that she's the new girl sitting next to Sasuke-kun?"

"Maybe, but probably not. Princesses are supposed to be cute-lovers right? They don't wear boy's samurai clothes. Although it looks awfully fashionable of her."

"Whatever. The princess 'prolly isn't as strong as us, anyways." And now I was aggravated. Even if I was a princess, I was still probably stronger than their weak-minded fangirl-ness!

"I am not!" I confronted them, Sasuke-san looking my way, then turning back around, back to staring into blank space. "Do not stereotype people because of what they are!" I showed them the blade of one of my Kusanagi katanas. They gasped.

"Y-yes, h-hai," They stuttered. "We won't do it again, Princess-hime!"

"Setsuna," I corrected them before I sat back down, and buried my face into my arms. It wasn't long until I got bored and fell asleep...

.::x::.x::x::.

"My mouth is poisoned!"

"Naruto-dobe, you're dead!" I woke up wearily to realize that Sasuke-san and Naruto-kun had already kissed. I giggled at their reactions, but frowned when Sasuke-san's fan girls started to pummel Naruto-kun to the ground in sheer anger. So, as a 'princess,' I decided to defend him.

"Hey," I yelled at them, blocking their way to Naruto-kun. I noticed that Sakura-chan and Ino-chan were part of the group. "It's not Naruto-kun's fault! He got hit by someone, and got knocked over!"

"Who're you to say anything?" Sakura-chan, I mean baka, stepped up. "You're not a ruler or anything; you're just a girl in boy clothes!" I smirked at this. Good thing I had good comebacks. Oh, wait. I didn't need them.

"I may not be a ruler," I stated, stepping up to her with a glare. She backed up with nervousness. "But my father is. I'm Sakurazaki Setsuna, Princess of the Fire Country! I'm defending a person who did no sin!" I ended with a flourish.

Ino-pig stepped up this time, Sakura-baka too scared to confront me again. "Oh yeah? If you're the princess of the Fire Country, then I'm the Legendary Tsunade-sama! You aren't a princess! You're a girl in boy clothes!"

As I opened my mouth to speak, Iruka-sensei appeared in the room. "Take a seat, girls!" Noticing me, he motioned for me to step to the front of the room.

"We have a last-minutes student today," He began. "The Hokage-sama passed her himself. I'm proud to say that this is Princess Sakurazaki Setsuna of the Fire Country!" As I stood in the front of the room smiling a little, the girls were gaping. Ino-pig was wide-eyed, seeing that she was so wrong in saying that I wasn't a princess. Well, she was right. In a way. Iruka-sensei motioned for me to sit, and started on his long, long speech.

"From this moment forth, you are no longer ninja trainees, but genin - in other words, junior ninja." Iruka-sensei looked over all of us with a gleam in his eyes. "You are still, however, the lowest of low ranks. This will change in time."

I wasn't paying much attention to the whole you've-now-passed-now-it's-hell-on-earth speech. Somehow a few girls got past my guard and hammered Naruto into dog meat, so I was applying ice to his smoking head.

"You will all be divided into three-man cells, with the exception of one cell that will have four members due to an uneven number of graduates." Some people groaned without interest. Well, so long as I'm with Naruto and not Sakura or Sasuke, I'm good as gold, I thought, Of course, I would have been anyways.

"I've made the selections already," (major "WHAT!!" scream at that) "So pay attention." Iruka-sensei started listing names and team numbers. I lost interest and started dozing off.

"Team 7...Haruno Sakura...Uzumaki Naruto—"

Naruto launched from his seat and yelled, "WHOO-HOO!!" in triumph. Sakura looked ready to die. I smirked at her. Serves you right.

"...Uchiha Sasuke..." Sakura stood and screamed, "Oh YEAH BABY!!" while Naruto hung his head and muttered darkly. Oh tough luck buddy, I thought apologetically.

"...and Sakurazaki Setsuna."

"WHAT!?" Sakura screamed in fake happiness. I knew she wasn't over my confrontation. Naruto's head snapped up. Sasuke raised his chin from his fingers. I sat up too fast, which resulted in my falling backwards. I got back up, rubbing the bump on my crown.

"Um, did I hear that right?" I asked, looking from Iruka-sensei to Naruto and back. "Did you say...Setsuna?" Yes! I was dancing inside.

"Yes Setsuna. You're on Team 7."

"Hold on a sec!" Naruto yelled, leveling a finger past me to Sasuke, who by now had regained his calm aloof composure. "Why the hell is such an accomplished shinobi like me stuck with that loser?!"

Iruka-sensei sighed deeply. I winced-- Naruto had once again triggered the teacher's lecture-mode.

"A princess's on my teeaaam." Sakura was shouting, sticking her tongue at the petrified Ino, and pointing her finger at me. I snarled when her finger came within two inches of poking my eye out.

Iruka-sensei counted to three in his head before replying. "Naruto, the teams are assembled with the thought of all strengths being equal. Sasuke has the highest grades of anyone here; you have the lowest. Both he and Sakura scored highest on their written examinations; you barely scraped through. In physical exams, however, Sasuke soars above everyone else. Setsuna, who was tested by Hokage-sama himself, was reported to might even have a higher strength capacity in all three types of jutsus than even Sasuke. So I think that explains all your questions." He turned back to his clipboard, ignoring the gasps that went through the room when he said that about me. "End of argument."

Sasuke looked over to Naruto. "Don't weigh me down, dunce."

Oh, bad move Uchiha, I thought as cross veins popped in your new friend's head.

"What did you say, Sasuke?!" he yelled.

"Knock it off, Naruto!" Sakura screamed, pounding him with her fists.

"Shut up Sakura!" I snapped. I looked at Sasuke. "You started this, ya know. Honestly, for a genius, you are such an idiot Uchiha."

"WHAT WAS THAT?" Sakura looked ready to murder me, forgetting that I was a princess.

"YOU HEARD ME, AND I WASN'T EVEN TALKING TO YOU, DAMMIT!!"

Iruka-sensei smiled as Naruto held me back from tearing Sakura to dust-sized pieces. _Aw, they'll work out their differences in time. Even Naruto..._

.::x::.x::x::.


	4. Teams

The Sakurazaki Chronicles—Tsubasa

By Emi

MC: Setsuna, Sasuke, mainly Konohagakure ninja

MS: Feudal Japan; the pre-Shippuuden period of Naruto

MT: Romance, Adventure, Angst, Friendship, Fantasy, Death

Rating: 13-18 year olds (Teen-Mature)

Disclaimer: The author does not own Naruto in any way, shape or form. However, she does own her OCs, including a small amount of their jutsus. The author also does not own the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld, Mahou Sensei Negima! by Akamatsu Ken, Chobits by CLAMP, Tsubasa by CLAMP, xxxHolic by CLAMP, Love Hina by Akamatsu Ken, the manga edition of Romeo and Juliet by Yali Lin (her wonderful art instructor and the woman who autographed it for me.), the .hack// series by various authors, and other manga or literature references used in the making of this fanfiction. All rights belong to their respectful author(s) or company.

A/N: Please review… I won't update if you don't!

Book One: Sora

Chapter 3

.::x::.x::x::.

"This sucks! This sucks!" Naruto took a big bite of his lunch and kept cursing. "We're stuck with that jerk Sasuke!"

"What're the odds?" I replied sarcastically, already knowing that I would be on this team.

Naruto looked right at me. "I thought that a cool princess wouldn't want to be a ninja."

"What! I would never! I love fighting... it's exhilarating..."

Suddenly Naruto's face lit up with evil mischief. "Hey Setsuna, how much free time do we have left?"

I consulted my watch that was strapped conveniently to a necklace around my neck. "One hour. Why?"

"Never you mind. Later!"

He sprinted off, ready to cackle. I shook my head and finished my meal, wanting to be very far away when his plan backfired. He was going to tell Sakura that he liked her in Sasuke's form. After eating I decided to take a leisure walk towards the school. I walked for about six minutes when I saw something that made me gasp in shock-- not. It was Naruto, in the form of Sasuke, talking to Sakura.

I got behind a tree and listened to every word, wanting blackmail material for later usage, even though I had watched the episode a countless number of times. Sasuke complimented Sakura on her 'noble brow' - I retched silently; I wasn't romantic in any sense, as I had spent half my life in an all-girls boarding school.

"That's what Naruto would say."

"Oh, the gods are very kind to me today," I snickered twenty minutes later. "First a cheesy soap opera scene in real life, and now this. I wish I had a camera. This moment is priceless."

I had finally tracked Sasuke down to where I saw him eating his lunch. If you don't know what had happened, Naruto caught him off guard while the boy was eating, ambushed him and borrowed his form. Tied and gagged, he glared at me with hard black eyes as I laughed at his situation.

When I regained my composure I ripped off his gag, making him wince a bit. "Untie me," he ordered shortly, wriggling like a caterpillar.

"No chance." I leaned against the wall and stuck my hands in my samurai pockets. "And no, I've no idea what Naruto is doing now. Not like I'd tell you anyway."

"Damn you," was the reply.

I slid to the floor, bringing my knees up to rest my chin on them. I glanced sidelong at Sasuke. "Y'know Uchiha, you and me haven't talked in a while. Since this morning. Noticed?"

"You can just untie me and shut up," Sasuke snapped, not looking at me. I sighed and complied, working fast. Soon he was stood up, flexing his wrists.

"You can say thanks at least," I said wearily, sliding down the wall. "Y'know, polite manners and all."

"Hn." He jumped out the window and strode off. I glared at his back before remembering that Kakashi was supposed to be here. Oh, well. He would be late anyways. Besides, who was I to glare at Sasuke? I ran for the classroom anyways, met Naruto on the way, and arrived to see Sakura and Sasuke waiting. We all sat far from each other while we waited.

.::x::.x::x::.

I was bored extremely easy. Seeing as I could not wait for more than an hour at a time, I exited the room, going out to the marketplace to buy some food. I also bought a sketchpad while there.

While returning back, I noticed that Kakashi still was not there. Sighing, I placed the grocery bag on the floor, taking out a pencil and my new sketchbook. I opened it to the first page, ignoring the many stares from Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto.

Taking out a pencil, I decided to sketch the first thing that I could think of- my favorite animal. A few minutes later, after the shape was done, Naruto conjured up enough bravery to walk over to me.

"Hey, Sakurazaki-hime!" He yelled, abnormally close to my ear. I cringed. He was even louder in person than in the manga. "What're you doing, dattebayo?" I turned around, smiling sweetly, but stern-faced.

"Naruto-kun," I said. He did nothing but smile back at me. "Please, call me Setsuna. And, 'what are you doing, believe it,' doesn't make much sense, you know. Also, no 'hime.' I'm just a normal person, as you are. And, I'm drawing a kitsune, you want to see?" Naruto grinned.

"Yeah, Setsuna-chan! Show me, dattebyo!" I smiled at the young orphan who was still not making sense with his words. And the sad thing was, what was I doing pretending I was: 1. A princess. 2. A shinobi. 3. Twelve years old! I was really FIFTEEN for Kami's sake! Why do I look TWELVE! DOUZE! SHI-ER! SA-I! JUU-NI!!

Nonetheless, I showed him the page in front of me, his smile growing even wider, if that was even possible.

"Oi, Setsuna-chan!" He looked at me. I cocked my head sideways, questioningly. "That's really good!" Arigatou, I smiled in my head.

"A-arigatou, Naruto-kun," I stuttered, still not actually used to the fact I was talking to an imaginary cartoon character. I pinched myself. Itai! Okay, I'm definitely awake. "Ummm... ano, do you want it?" He nodded eagerly. Ripping it slowly and neatly, I handed it to him.

He stared at it in awe, then started stroking the paper like it was a real kitsune. "It's so pretty... SUGOI!! OI, SAKURA-CHAN, C'MERE!" The pink-haired girl looked angered for a moment, then saw me. She smiled softly and ran up to us.

"Ohayou, Pr-- I mean, Setsuna-hime!" I smiled at her attempt to call me by my name. However, the Haruno called me princess again, in an endearment. I sighed. I was beginning to consider that phrase as an insult. I mean, I couldn't tell her I wasn't a princess! I could get arrested by the Konohagakure no sato Police Force!

"Ohayou, Haruno-san," She smiled at my calling her -san. After all, it WAS a princess talking to her. Boy, now I'm sounding snooty.

"Y-you can call m-me Sakura." She stuttered, now sounding exactly like I had just a few moments before.

"Alright then, Sakura-chan," I said again. Although I hated her obsession with the Uchiha avenger, she grew out of it and made into a strong kunoichi later on. I respected that-- it was hard to let go of something-- or someone-- that was precious to you. Like Haku, whom we were going to fight in a month or so. We all had someone precious to us that we would die for. Well, I thought as I glanced towards Sasuke's direction.

He was going to avenge the dead, precious ones to him.

As was I.

Since my parents and family were all gone-- some murdered, some crazy and sent to prison, I didn't have a precious person to protect. Maybe, in the Naruto universe, it would be different... maybe I could fell a little... loved?

"LOOK! SETSUNA-CHAN DREW THIS FOR ME!" Naruto shoved the paper in Sakura's face. She shoved Naruto away, but not before gingerly taking the picture in her hand. She scanned her eyes over it, smiling.

"You certainly have a talent for drawing," Sakura smiled. "This is really good, Setsuna-hi-chan!" She covered up her mistake. "Ummm... ano, can you make me... ummm..." I caught on.

"It's okay to ask, Sakura-chan!" I smiled. It wasn't everyday you get to make new friends from a cartoon world. I wanted to be as 'happy' as I could get. Good thing I took those acting lessons back in boarding school... "I'll draw you one, too!" Then I looked over in Sasuke's direction, who, being the arrogant, emo jerk he was, was sitting at his Academy desk, hands folded, head propped up on them. I decided to make him one as well.

"Hey, Sasuke-san!" I exclaimed. Peeved, the Uchiha turned to me, emotionless. He didn't reply. "You want me to draw you one as well?"

"Hn." He replied. I didn't think that that was a no... was it? I decided to draw one for him anyways. I flipped to a clean, blank, page in my new sketchbook and started to draw Sakura trees for Sakura-chan. Fitting, ne? I took out a pastel set, too, and started to color it in, slowly. 30 minutes later, my picture was done and in Sakura's hands. She was admiring it.

"Sugoi, Setsuna-chan," She said, happy that she had finally gotten my name right. "This really is great." I thanked her.

"Why isn't our sensei here yet?" Naruto complained as he was doodling on the blackboard. "It's already 3:00 PM, Iruka's gone, and my ramen coupon expires at 6!" I smiled weakly at the ranting Uzumaki. Kakashi wasn't going to come in another hour or so. He was probably 'lost on the path of life' at the KIA Stone. I shook my thoughts out of my head, and started to draw a teddy bear for Sasuke.

.::x::.x::x::.

Another thirty-or-so minutes later, I finally put the finishing touches on the bear. I drew tiny stitches on the mouth into a smile, then made it say 'Smile." I snickered at it, then secretly showed it to Naruto.

"Is that for him?" Naruto pointed to Sasuke, who was once again, brooding and quiet. I nodded. Naruto chuckled. "Oh my Kami, you should give it to him! See what he does!" I nodded, and strode over to where Sasuke was sitting. He didn't look up. Jerk.

"Sasuke-san, look!" I tried to sound as cheerful as possible. "I drew you something, since Sakura-chan and Naruto-kun both got one."

"Hn." I offered it to him, and he reached out a hand and took it, not even bothering to glance at me when he did. Then, the Uchiha looked at it, sighed, and then went back to staring into space. Now, I was completely confused, and feeling utterly pathetic.

"Ano... Sasuke-san?" I asked him. He didn't reply. "Do you... ano.. like it?" He looked up and glared at me.

"Who said I'm not happy?" He snapped.

"I wasn't implying that you weren't," I smirked. he growled, taking out a kunai and swinging it at me. Itai. Anger issues.

I took out my first katana and brought it to his neck before he could hurt me. He stood there, shocked that ahem a PRINCESS could move so fast. "Don't move or you die."

Meanwhile, Sakura and Naruto were at the door, not paying attention to us.

"Naruto-baka," Sakura's face was red in anger, clashing with her pink hair. "You can't do that to our sensei!"

"Watch me!" Naruto put the eraser on top of the door, then stepped down from his ladder. "Once he goes through the door, BAM! He's going to get hit by the eraser!"

"That's not a good idea!" Sakura warned. However, her alter-ego was thinking completely otherwise.

.::x::.x::x::.

We were both completely silent-- one move and we'd both die. His kunai was at my neck, my katana at his. Total silence reigned, us glaring at each other.

"Make your move, Uchiha," I hissed, not bothering to put an endearment at the end. After all, all friends could be enemies at one point. So, enemies could be even worse. If enemies could try hard enough... they could kill.

"Ladies first," He smirked at me. I smirked back, and focused my chakra evenly throughout my body. Envisioning Kakashi transporting away like he usually did, I used the 'tora' hand sign and, before the Uchiha could sense it, I disappeared, leaving a faint chakra trail that nobody without a special technique could track. The kunai and the katana clattered noisily onto the ground.

Sasuke cried out in surprise, Sakura and Naruto finally noticing and looking over at him and where I was a moment ago. He looked around for me, grabbing the kunai off the floor before I could make a move. Unknown to him, I was hanging upside-down on the rafters, watching his every move. I had learned to use the hid-and-seek analyze trick when doing filed combat during practice.

His movement was fast, I'd give him that. If I had watched his moves in the anime and manga correctly, then his moves were also dangerously accurate. I would have to pinpoint his attacks from my 90 degree angle and dodge all that was possible. he was standing approximately 4 feet 11 inches away from me, so...

"Ohayou, Sasuke-san!" I hopped from the rafters as I felt his chi stiffen. training in Tokyo had a great effect on me, so I felt confident-- confident enough to attack him straight on. I pulled my other katana out, landing on the floor and going for his ankle.

I wouldn't attack fatally, just enough for him to slow down a little. Not fast enough, Sasuke-san, the emo lord finally defeated, watched as his blood seeped out of his wound. As he was distracted, I put my katana to his neck.

"You lose, Uchiha!" I smiled, having defeated a... cartoon character that was supposed to be stronger. Oh, well. Maybe after he got the curse mark he would be a better opponent.

Poof We all turned our attention to the sudden noise-- even Sasuke-san, who was wriggling around in the sword's grip. Kakashi-sensei was here! With an eraser on his head! I guess Naruto-kun did it while Sasuke-san were fighting.

"My first impression of you all is..." He made a dramatic silence. "I hate you! But not Setsuna-hime, she can't be hated." He smiled under his mask.

"Kakashi-sensei," I said casually, letting go of Sasuke-san. he fell to the floor and scrambled back up, glaring at my back. "You can't stereotype us all. And, do you remember what I said earlier?"

"True," Kakashi-sensei admitted. "Seeing as how you beat the best Academy student there. Somehow, you with the least training, may be the strongest of them all."

I blinked, taking in the compliment. Bowing, I thanked my new teacher. "Domo arigatou gozaimasu."

.::x::.x::x::.


	5. Planning

The Sakurazaki Chronicles—Tsubasa

By Emi

MC: Setsuna, Sasuke, mainly Konohagakure ninja

MS: Feudal Japan; the pre-Shippuuden period of Naruto

MT: Romance, Adventure, Angst, Friendship, Fantasy, Death

Rating: 13-18 year olds (Teen-Mature)

Disclaimer: The author does not own Naruto in any way, shape or form. However, she does own her OCs, including a small amount of their jutsus. The author also does not own the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld, Mahou Sensei Negima! by Akamatsu Ken, Chobits by CLAMP, Tsubasa by CLAMP, xxxHolic by CLAMP, Love Hina by Akamatsu Ken, the manga edition of Romeo and Juliet by Yali Lin (her wonderful art instructor and the woman who autographed it for me.), the .hack// series by various authors, and other manga or literature references used in the making of this fanfiction. All rights belong to their respectful author(s) or company.

A/N: Look, I've taken my time to revise this thing. Or something like that. So please review!

Book One: Sora

Chapter 4

.::x::.x::x::.

"No problem," He shrugged. "It's true. Now!" He clapped his gloved fingers together. "Let's go to the--"

"Roof!' I shouted, completely oblivious I was doing it again, until Kakashi-sensei started staring at me. "Uh... ano..." I ran out of excuses for this one. "Let's just go! C'mon people!" I grabbed the two people closest to me at the moment-- which happened to be Sasuke-san and Naruto-kun-- and ran up the stairs to the roof (and guess what? the staircase had a plaque that said 'stairs.' Scary, huh?)

I seemed to be dragging Sasuke, whereas Naruto was running alongside me, grinning. Kakashi-sensei and Sakura were lagging behind, just walking. When I got there, I sat down on a step, Naruto sitting right next to me. Sasuke sat on the other side of me, however, as far away as he could get without falling down the stairs. When Sakura approached, she sat right next to Sasuke, me immediately feeling his emotion to be exasperated.

I shrugged. Chakra did a lot more for me in this world than it did for mine. People in Tokyo had less chakra than Rock Lee, but, when they came here, their chakra level increases 100 fold, to a ninja's chi level. However, since my chi level back in the normal world was greater than most, it was a little above average here. And I could control it.

Sasuke weighed his options-- Sakura or me? Fan girl or rival? Scary or strong? Either way it was a lose-lose situation for him, but he chose to scoot away from Sakura-chan and sit a little closer to me. I rolled my eyes. he vowed to kill someone when he was afraid of his own fan? I shook my head.

"Alright, let's introduce ourselves," Kakashi-sensei filled us in with his 'names, hobbies' speech. "The idiotic loudmouth in orange. You go first."

Naruto looked angered at the 'I' word, but shouted his big 'ramen-Hokage' speech nonetheless. "MY NAME IS UZUMAKI NARUTO! I LIKE RAMEN AND PRACTICAL JOKES! I DISLIKE THE THREE MINUTE WAIT WHEN RAMEN IS BOILING! MY HOBBIES ARE... PRACTICAL JOKES, I MY DREAM... MY DREAM IS TO BECOME HOKAGE!!" I chuckled, massaging my ears.

You'll make a great Hokage, Naruto-kun," I poked him in the nose. "If you train hard enough you'll surpass everyone in the village, even Namikaze Minato-sama, the Fourth Hokage-sama, and your fa--" I stopped when Kakashi-sensei got a hold of my neck.

"Gomen nasai, Sakurazaki-hime," He hissed, letting go of my neck. I rubbed it tenderly. "But Naruto-san is not to receive that information." Me, being the verbose person I am, attacked him back.

"And why not?" I shot. "It's his right to know that the Fourth Hokage-sama was his--" I gasped as a kunai flew past my ear.

"I do not know how you received this information, but this is FORBIDDEN for Naruto-san to know, according to the CURRENT Hokage-sama. Do you get it?" Sighing, I nodded, slowly sitting back down. Sakura and Naruto were staring wide-eyed at me, while Sasuke merely looked questioningly at me.

"Wait! What about me??" Naruto shouted loudly. "Setsuna-chan told you that I had a right to know!"

I smiled. I wanted to tell him, but I couldn't. I believed that Hokage-sama had a reason for doing so, and I believed him. "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun. If Hokage-sama said that I couldn't then I can't. I'm sure you'll find out, though. I believe that." Naruto-kun frowned. "let's just get back to introducing ourselves." 'Although I know every singled detail about you all.' I added in my head.

"Alright then." Kakashi-sensei had settled down on a railing at the edge of the roof. "You in the pink, then."

Sakura-chan did her fan girl speech. However, I decided, to mess with her. Maybe she could get over Sasuke-san before the Shippuuden time skips. "My name is Haruno Sakura. I like--" She cut off, blushing at Sasuke.

"Sasuke-san!" I answered for her. She turned to me, probably forgetting I was 'royalty.'

"I dislike Naruto-baka!" I was my turn to glare at her. I turned to Naruto and wrapped my arms around him. he turned red, but I took no notice of his rainbow transformation.

"Oh yeah? Well, he'll be Hokage-sama one day, and he'll throw you in the Konohagakure no sato dungeon! So back off!" I stuck my tongue out at her. She paled, realizing that my 'back off' was serious.

"O-okay, hai,. Setsuna-chan. Ummm... ano... my hobbies are--"

"Stalking Sasuke-san," She didn't make an attempt to stop me again. However, Sasuke's eye twitched a little. I laughed lightly.

"And, anou... my dream is to--"

"Live happily ever after with Sasuke-san and have two children, both totally strong and gorgeous that'll make Ino-pig jealous. We got your fantasies. Now onto Mr. Emo over here." I knew I was being mean, but Sakura-chan had to realize that chasing blindly after him wasn't going to work. She had to become stronger, catch his interest.

"Hn." He said, preparing for his totally weirded out 'I'll kill Itachi-sempai cuz he killed all that's dear to me' speech. Now that I thought about it, Sasuke-san's revenge seemed to make sense to me now. Itachi took away his precious people and happiness. However, he should have moved on and made due with other precious people. Good thing team 7 would be the precious people to him soon enough. maybe even me...

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I don't like a lot of things, seeing how there are so little things I do like. I don't have any hobbies, and dreams either. 'Dreams is just a word.' It just means that it's something that you wish to achieve. However, I do have something I wish to do-- and it will happen, an ambition. there is someone I have sworn... to kill." He finished his show-offy speech with Naruto hoping that it wasn't him he wanted to kill, Sakura admiring his 'coolness' and Kakashi-sensei thinking about how 'interesting' the group was (note the sarcasm). I zoned out, thinking up a quick lie to feed the little chipmunks. Finally, I thought of one that would knock the socks off Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke.

"Can I go now?" I looked at Kakashi-sensei.

"Only if you're part of the team," He joked, releasing the tension around us.

"Alright, arigatou. My name is Sakurazaki Setsuna. I don't like to talk about my likes, and I have no hobbies or dreams. My ambition is to forget about my past." I added finally. My introduction didn't reveal anything at all, yet it was totally true. I definitely wanted to become a successful kunoichi. I also wanted to forget about the things my parents-- my whole family had done to me. I even had permanent scars on my back to prove it. However, since entering the Naruto world, I realized that all my things were gone-- even my katanas and my old combat clothes. So, the markings were no more.

Kakashi-sensei looked at me strangely, but shook it off. "Alright then. Since you know each other now, I'll tell you about your mission tomorrow."

"REALLY?" Naruto jumped around, excited. "MY FIRST NINJA MISSION! WHAT IS IT, HUH?"

"Survival exercises," I answered for him. Kakashi-sensei didn't even contradict me this time; he must have gotten used to it. I continued, "But it's unlike any that you've seen before. It has a 66 failure rate, and only three teams and a maximum of ten people will pass as genin," They paled at this, but I continued. "Come at 7:00 AM sharp and don't eat any breakfast unless you want to hurl." Kakashi-sensei nodded.

"Exactly," He confirmed, bowing before disappearing into the evening day. I sighed. Keeping such a secret was extremely hard!

"Alright, well, bye!" Naruto yelled before bravely hugging me. I wasn't used to hugs, or any display of affection, but I awkwardly patted him on the back before I let go. "I need to get to the ramen bar before my coupon expires!" I chuckled, waving to him as he dashed down the stairs.

'Hey, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura smiled flirtatiously at the Uchiha. 'you want to walk me home?"

"Iie." Sasuke walked past both of us. He walked to the bottom of the staircase, then said without turning back around, "Are you coming, Setsuna-san?" I blinked, remembered that he was housing me, and ran down to him.

'Yeah, hai," Sasuke-san opened the door for me, and I stepped out into the hallways, leaving Sakura behind, wondering why Sasuke was walking me instead of her.

.::x::.x::x::.

I made fried egg rice for dinner, reminding myself to go to the market the next day. Scooping the second bowl of rice out of the pan, I handed the first to Sasuke, who was just standing there stupidly the whole time, watching me cook. Apparently, he wasn't used to people doing things for him.

"Arigatou," He muttered before sitting at the small kitchen table. I grabbed a pillow from the living room couch before kneeling down as well.

"Itadekimasu," We murmured to each other, before eating in silence. We continued to eat in silence, before Sasuke decided to break it. "How do you know so much about the way of a ninja? You got almost no training."

"It's part of my secret," I winked at him before bringing my empty bowl to the sink to wash. "But I'll tell you, I promised, remember?"

"Hm," I finished drying my bowl and stacked it before I grabbed it. After I had dried that too, I decided to tell him the real rules about tomorrow. After all, I didn't want Sasuke waking me up at 5AM, did I?

"About the exercise tomorrow," He looked at me.

"What about it?" He asked emotionlessly, but I could tell that he was curious.

"Well, I know a lot about Kakashi-sensei's training. First off, he's always late by about three or four hours, so wake me up at 10, okay? Also, you can eat, he just wants someone to be hungry enough to steal the lunch and fail immediately." I stopped, so Sasuke-san could tell me if he had gotten it down. He nodded, still no signs of emotion on his face.

"The whole point of the exercise is teamwork. The bells he uses are less than there are students to cause dissension between the ranks. If a teammate is in trouble, we help them, because a person who breaks rules is trash. However, one who ignores a comrade is lower than that." Sasuke shook his head defiantly.

"I'm a solo person," He said. "I can take them on."

"But that's what Kakashi-sensei WANTS you to think! Working as a team proves that you can work with your team on missions! On a mission, you have to take care of and defend your comrades, not just yourself! Kakashi-sensei has NEVER passes any teams he had, because nobody thought of that!" Sasuke sighed, but gave in.

"Fine. let's think of a plan."

.::x::.x::x::.


	6. Bells

The Sakurazaki Chronicles—Tsubasa

By Emi

MC: Setsuna, Sasuke, mainly Konohagakure ninja

MS: Feudal Japan; the pre-Shippuuden period of Naruto

MT: Romance, Adventure, Angst, Friendship, Fantasy, Death

Rating: 13-18 year olds (Teen-Mature)

Disclaimer: The author does not own Naruto in any way, shape or form. However, she does own her OCs, including a small amount of their jutsus. The author also does not own the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld, Mahou Sensei Negima! by Akamatsu Ken, Chobits by CLAMP, Tsubasa by CLAMP, xxxHolic by CLAMP, Love Hina by Akamatsu Ken, the manga edition of Romeo and Juliet by Yali Lin (her wonderful art instructor and the woman who autographed it for me.), the .hack// series by various authors, and other manga or literature references used in the making of this fanfiction. All rights belong to their respectful author(s) or company.

A/N: Review, pleasssee!

Book One: Sora

Chapter 5

.::x::.x::x::.

At 10:00 AM, Sasuke knocked on my door, waking me up. However, being the heavy sleeper I am, I rolled over, and went back to sleep.

"Setsuna-san!" I felt the corner of the bed shift, meaning that he was sitting on my bed. "Wake up! It's 10, like you said!"

Unconsciously, I reached out and grabbed something soft, snuggling against it like a teddy bear. I hugged it until I heard Sasuke say, "Setsuna-san! Open your eyes!" Sighing, I did so, yawning until I realized that I was holding Sasuke-san against my chest. No wonder it was so warm!

Embarrassed, I let go of him, sitting up in my bed, until... I realized that I was in a bra and panties (although he had only seen the top half of me.) gasping, I scrunched up the covers and pulled them up to my neck. "Get out! Out!" I pointed one finger at the door, the other hand still clutching the sheets.

Realizing that he was red-faced, Sasuke scrambled for the door, slamming it behind him. Sighing, I removed my covers, slipping into my outdoors outfit. I tied up my hair, brushing my bangs to the side. After making my bed, I grabbed my hatai-ate headband off the nightstand, and dashed into the kitchen, where Sasuke was eating an onigiri. I took one as well, swallowing it as fast as I could before dashing to the door and grabbing my katanas. I tied my hatai-ate around my forehead.

As I was pulling on my sandals, Sasuke-san followed suit.

Sasuke locked the door behind him as we stepped out into the empty hallways. Not wanting to waste chakra, we slowly walked to the training grounds, in silence. The sun was up, the birds were chirping around us, and we. Were. Silent.

"I uh... ano, gomen nasai for this morning," I apologized to Sasuke about what I had done, wanting to break the silence. "I wouldn't have done it if I woke up when you knocked."

"It's okay," he said stiffly. We had finally arrived at the genin training grounds. I found Kakashi-sensei still not there. Sakura was sitting there, bored out of her mind and playing with a shuriken. Naruto was asleep.

Sasuke immediately walked over to a tree and sat down, closing his eyes. I walked over to the sleeping Naruto, sitting down next to him. Deciding to wake the Uzumaki loudmouth (it runs in the family...) up, I flicked his nose. Naruto opened his eyes and groaned.

"Wha--?" Naruto-kun said tiredly. "Is Kakashi-sensei here yet?"

"Iie, but I am," I grinned. He smiled back. "He isn't going to be here for another hour or so. So, can you entertain me?" He grinned mischievously.

"Yeah. Ummm... ano... let's make Sakura-chan kiss me!" I had to laugh out loud at that one. Sakura looked curiously our way, but said nothing.

"Oh, yeah!" I explained the speech I had done for Sasuke-san the previous day to him.

"So we hafta work together to pass?" I nodded, happy that Naruto understood. "Okay... so... can we make Sakura-chan kiss me now?" I laughed, but agreed. We began to devise a fool-proof plan...

.::x::.x::x::.

Okay, our plan was medieval and simple, but it would work, although Sakura-chan would kill Naruto-kun, mostly likely. He said that it was worth it though, so obliged, walking over to Sakura for phase one (by the way, Sasuke-san was just sitting on a tree branch, not caring what we were doing.)

"Ohayou, Sakura-chan!" I smiled.

"Oh, ohayou gozamiasu, Setsuna-hime!" She smiled back, her pink hair flapping around her face as a result of the wind. "So, what brings you here?"

"To talk about Naruto-kun," I sat down beside her, laying my katanas at my side.

"What about him? He's dumb and hyperactive! My parents would disown me if I did any of the things he's done!"

"But think about his past. He had no one to love, no one to love him. Everyone shunned him because they were afraid of him. He had nobody to raise him correctly, so he never studies, nothing! he just wanted a person to RESPECT him.

"Will you go apologize to him?" She nodded sadly, and I smiled.

"Cheer up. You didn't know. Oh, and speaking of stuff you didn't know..."

I explained the Kakashi-bell thing for the third time. Sakura nodded. "Okay. So we work together. Got it. Now let's go to Naruto-kun." Surprised at her endearment usage and change of heart, I let her pull me over to Naruto-kun.

"Anou... Naruto-kun?" Naruto looked up at Sakura's words. He brightened up as I winked at him behind Sakura. "I'm sorry if I was... mean to you before. I realize that I was being half-assed, so... will you accept my apology?"

"YEAH, YATTA!" Naruto hugged her, and I giggled. It looked so strange. Phase two-- start! Naruto let go of her, blushing and realizing what he had done. Surprisingly enough, Sakura was pink-cheeked too. I made a face, realizing that I was some kind of matchmaker. I grimaced.

"Anou... friends?" Sakura recovered first, offering her hand out to Naruto. He grabbed it with one hand, signaling behind him that it was time. Sticking my foot out in front of Naruto-kun's, inconspicuously, I pulled it back, forcing Naruto to suddenly lurch forward.

Catching Sakura off-guard, he 'accidentally' kissed her on the lips. I chuckled to myself as I watched Sakura pull away in horror.

"I said FRIENDS not BOYFRIEND!" She yelled, ready to pound Naruto. I grabbed her wrist before she could do so. She had made such a clatter, even Sasuke was looking curiously our way.

"STOP," I told her sternly. "Gomen nasai. It was my fault. Naruto tripped over my foot when he was walking forwards. Please don't injure him." She sighed, withdrawing her hand from my grip.

"Okay," She said, frowning. "But Sasuke-kun was supposed be my first kiss, NOT Naruto-kun!"

"Then take it as a friendly one, no more," I shrugged. When Sakura was walking away, Naruto and I slapped hands. Yes!

.::x::.x::x::.

"You're late!" I opened one eye. I was sitting on a tree, thinking of ways to train my chakra.

I knew we would pass. I had repeated Sasuke's and my plan to Sakura and Naruto earlier, so I didn't need to worry unless they screwed up. I hoped they wouldn't.

I REALLY DID.

"Gomen, guys!" I heard Kakashi's ridiculous excuse of the day. " I ran into a black cat! I had to go the long way."

I rolled my eyes, focusing my chakra to my feet, hopping down from the tree branch so I wouldn't fall. Good thing I learned to do this elsewhere, or else I would have broken my neck.

"Even though I'm not that familiar with Konohagakure," I lied. I. Am. A. Liar. "I know it must not take five hours to walk from the village to here."

"Ah... demo... ano, demo..." Kakashi-sensei attempted to make up another excuse.

"If you're going to be lazy and read porn," I scolded him, making him flinch. "Then read more PRODUCTIVE books. And get here on time. Even if the book's written by a legendary Sannin," I added when Kakashi-sensei opened his mouth to contradict me. He looked slightly dejected.

"Let's just get to the test," He grumbled, pulling three bells out of his pocket. "I have three bells in my hand."

"I passed in math!" Naruto-kun retorted, rolling his eyes. I giggled, Kakashi sending a glare at me. I shut up.

"Like I said before I was so RUDELY interrupted," Kakashi glared at Naruto now. "I have three bells here."

Actually, you said that you have three bells in your hand, not here." He glared at Sakura. She smiled awkwardly, scratching the back of her head.

"Ahem! I have three bells in my HAND," he coughed, glaring at us all. "Your task is to get a bell for yourselves, before the alarm," He tapped the alarm clock set on the log fondly."Rings at noon. Whoever doesn't get a bell will be tied to the log and have their lunch eaten by me in front of them Got it? And, oh right, fight like you intend to kill."

"HAHAHA!" Naruto fell back in laughter. "TO KILL?? YOU COULDN'T EVEN DODGE AN ERASER!!"

"S-sensei," Sakura stuttered apprehensively. "I-isn't that dangerous?"

"The loudest idiot is always the one sure for failure," Kakashi-sensei pointed out, and Naruto growled, running for him. In a blink of an eye, Kakashi was behind Naruto, with a kunai to his back.

"I didn't say 'go,'" Kakashi-sensei pointed out, releasing the staggering, angered blonde. "But, you aimed to kill. So," He smiled underneath his masked features. "I think that you're starting to respect me. And maybe-- just maybe-- I am too. All right then. Ready... steady... GO!!"

We all leapt away, except for Naruto, who, according to our plan, had to stay to distract Kakashi. I hid in a tree, concealing myself. After all, my sensei, Haruhi-sensei, taught me all this. He said that a well-concealed swordsperson was one with a higher success-rate. The higher the place, the less of a chance you'd get blown off you feet. Also, from a higher distance, you would be able to see your surroundings with a bird's-eye view.

I looked around me. Satisfied, I noticed that Sasuke and Sakura where in the places I had assigned for them-- Sasuke was hidden in the canopies of a 300 feet to my left-- Sakura on her stomach in a bush 550 feet to my right. And Naruto should be confronting Kakashi in three... two... one--

"Come on! Let's do this! Let's make this a battle for the greatest of shinobi!" I chuckled lightly, remembering that this was exactly what he had said in the manga.

"You must be thinking of the wrong match here," Kakashi said calmly. Naruto, angered, attacked Kakashi. I waited for my cue, hoping that Sasuke and Sakura were paying attention.

"The only thing wrong here is your hairstyle!" That was it! Focusing my chakra to the soles of my feet, I hopped form the tree, the chi enhancing my speed. I arrived at my point-- Point A, as I liked to call it-- in the back of my confused sensei. Merely half a second later, Sasuke arrived at Point B, to the right of Kakashi. Another second passed and Sakura appeared at Point C, to the left of Kakashi.

"Alright!" Naruto shouted at his own point, Point D, which was right in front of Kakashi. "QUADRUPLE ATTACK FORMATION! Now for Phase Two! Henge no jutsu!" Naruto did his one-handed 'tora' sign. The next moment, the place where he had been was his famous Oirioke no jutsu.

"Chu!" Naruto-- or what was him, to say the least-- blew a kiss at Kakashi. He/she winked, too. "What do you think, sensei?" He--or -- she-- looked at our sensei sideways, the long, blond pigtails swaying from side to side.

All Kakashi could do was stare.


End file.
